No Free Boots

The coming Windows 8 implementation of UEFI with Secure Boot adds an extra layer of complexity for some Linux users. We look at the problem and two solutions from Fedora and Canonical.

In an effort to provide additional security to Windows 8 on x86- and ARMbased devices, a new requirement for Microsoft ODMs is that all Windows 8-certified machines have the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) with the Secure Boot option on, creating problems for any Linux distribution that wants to run on such devices.

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Opinions differ on the UEFI boot security system, but one thing is certain: Secure Boot is here to stay. We thought it was time to ask, "How hard is it to boot a popular Linux distribution in a UEFI Secure Boot environment?"